A sweeping health care fraud crackdown by the Department of Justice has reached Nebraska, where four people now face federal charges tied to alleged schemes to cheat Medicare and Medicaid out of more than a million dollars combined. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska announced the cases as part of a coordinated national takedown.

Part of a Nationwide Effort

The Nebraska charges are one piece of a much larger DOJ initiative targeting health care fraud across the country. In this state alone, prosecutors brought cases against four individuals, each accused of exploiting public health programs through false billing and fabricated claims.

A $975,000 Scheme Spanning State Lines

Two of the defendants, both from Oklahoma, are accused of running the largest scheme of the group. Angie Albert, 50, and Brent Conaway, 51, were charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering.

According to prosecutors, the pair billed health care benefit programs for services that were never actually provided and overcharged for medication. The false claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid allegedly led to more than $975,000 in overpayments.

False Statements Over Counseling That Never Happened

In a separate case, 67-year-old Phyllis Rooney of Hawaii faces a charge of making false statements connected to health care services. Prosecutors say Rooney claimed to provide mental health counseling services that she never actually delivered.

The alleged misconduct cost Nebraska Medicaid more than $92,000.

Billing for Products Patients Never Received

The fourth defendant, Cassi Wigington of Omaha, is charged with health care fraud over an alleged scheme to submit fraudulent claims to Nebraska Medicaid. Prosecutors say Wigington billed for products that patients never received.

Those phony claims, submitted to Nebraska Medicaid and other insurers, totaled roughly $445,000.

The Bigger Picture

Taken together, the four Nebraska cases highlight the range of tactics prosecutors say fraudsters use to drain public health programs, from billing for phantom services to overcharging for medication and fabricating treatment records. With the charges now filed, each defendant will face the legal process ahead as part of the broader national effort to root out health care fraud.

It’s worth remembering that these are charges, not convictions, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.